Gear From The 1970s and 1980's

[rickb]

Did I miss anyone waxing poetic about their Frostline kits?

My mother made me not only one of their top of the line bags (still have it) but also a tent.

I am sure mothers still support their trail walking kids these days, but who else on this list can make such a claim.

[Kerosene]

Did I miss anyone waxing poetic about their Frostline kits?

My girlfriend and eventual wife had her first, and last, experience with down garment construction sewing me a pair of Frostline down booties with "overboots" with a cordura/neoprene sole. I tossed the soles a few years later, but I wore the booties on cold winter nights up until a few years ago.

[Wise Old Owl]

As much as I like reading this thread about all the yesteryear stuff we all came to love, I have cleaned it all out except two pieces. An Andre Jamlet 2 person Tent and a Sweva Stove. Its currently Rick B's avatar just above. I couldn't fix the leaky original, it lasted some 25 years so I bought a new one and gave it to my dad a couple of years ago. Just so he could stop by the side of the road and make tea.

The new gear will bring new memories. Time will make backpacking enjoyable. Hammocks will eliminate West Verginnie ground floods & down pours and waking up on floating Big Agnes mats. So things will change and the landscape will still be here to be enjoyed by the young masters.

[Deacon]

Had an off-brand external frame pack. It had a built-in square wire loop used to hold the top (loading) open while you stuffed your things inside. The pack was made of the brightest orange coated nylon you could imagine, with a non-anodized aluminum frame fitted together with nylon spacers between the separate pieces (squeeked bad), held together with screws. I remember piercing my thumb more than once while trying to remove the wire rings holding the shoulder strap or waist belt pins in.

Tent was the typical canvas "A" frame pup tent with a three part metal ended wooden poles and "clothes line" type guy wires. Of course it came with long, square, notched, wooden pegs. Bug netting? What's that?

Sleeping bag was a Coleman canvas rectangular with full zip and red cotton lining. I don't think they even had a temp rating back then, but still do remember the deer print.

Sleeping bag pad.......naw

Used a Coleman(?) green combo one burner stove/catalytic heater that used Coleman stove fuel. Great little stove though heavy by todays standards. I haven't seen one of those combos is many, many years.

Cooking was with a 2 qt. aluminum pot w/lid, 8" steel frying pan, plastic mixing bowl, regular silver ware, can opener, pot holder, full kitchen utensils (slotted serving spoon, regular serving spoon, spatula, and knife) roll of paper towels, roll of aluminum foil, camp toater, coffee pot, and of course, the Sierra Cup.

Clothes - why cotton, of course. Plaid or chamois long sleeved shirts (for bug protection), waffle long underware, blue jeans, white sport socks, rubberized poncho (Army surplus), and heavy, high top, leather hiking boots with lug soles.

Toiletries included a cotton wash cloth and bath towel, bar soap, deoderant, shampoo, metal camp mirror,

Ah, the candle lantern. Like others posters have said, I also had a folding candle lantern with mica lenses as well as a Ray-O-Vac 2 x D battery silver flashlight and was a jammin' with a transistor radio. Walking sticks were what ever we found along the way.

What memories. That is exactly the way I remember my trip to the Region Seven Explorer scout canoe base in Wisconsin, back in 1962. Those were the best times of my life.

[Klezmorim]

Did I miss anyone waxing poetic about their Frostline kits?
...
... who else on this list can make such a claim.

Big smile, here. I bought 2 down-filled kits from Frostline's competitor, Holubar in the mid-70s; one for mittens, one for booties. My leetle seester stitched 'em up for credit in the sewing portion of her "Home Economics" class.(Do they even teach that anymore???)

I think Holubar's kits were unique in that the down came compressed in water-soluble plastic pouches. You just sewed the kit to a point, inserted the pouches and finished off the sewing. No down mess to deal with. Run the completed project through a gentle wash and the pouches dissolved. A tumble-dry got rid of the water and fluffed the down. Sweet!

The back of one of my mittens melted a bit on one of their first trips out when I get a little too close to the fire. A friend had given me a nice piece of rabbit fur, which my mother used to stitch over the "wound." Added a nice touch, I must say! The mittens finally bit The Big One when I repeated the "fire trick" sometime in the late 90s/early 00s. No amount of rabbit fur could resurrect them. RIP, Little Mittens (sniff). Your were only (about) 25 years old.

The booties? Still got 'em... 35 years and going!

[Rick Hancock]

Let's see, My first backpack was a Boy Scout Yucca Pack, no frame and the straps were attached with bolts/nuts/and fender washers. My cook set was an old army canteen with the bowl/cup that slid on the bottom of the canteen which slid into a od canvas holder and web belt. 2 person canvas tent you each carried your own half. A sears cotton flannel sleeping bag with an attached waterproof cover that was often shown erected over a cozy hiker that was supposed to keep the weather off! And for comfort a multi beamed air mattress.

In the late 70's thru hiked in 1980, I bought a Kelty D4 and a down bag from Best (you went into the store, picked what you wanted and it came down a conveyor belt) it was a great bag cost maybe $60 and I used it for years. I had a 3 piece nesting billies (Bull Dog Brand) cook set $9.10 from REI, a svea stove from LL Bean that cost less than $20, an ensolite pad that I used for way too many years, a 3piece metal knife/fork/spoon, Sierra cup, Vasque Cascade Boots, nylon knickers, down vest, I can't remember everything but there was a ton more. Oh yeah remember the Hank Roberts Mini Stove?

Weren't the good old days a hoot! We were so young.

[Hikes in Rain]

Did I miss anyone waxing poetic about their Frostline kits?

My mother made me not only one of their top of the line bags (still have it) but also a tent.

I am sure mothers still support their trail walking kids these days, but who else on this list can make such a claim.

Hadn't posted about that. Back in '74, right after my wife and I moved from Illinois to Alaska, she burned herself out making me a nice down parka from a Frostline kit. Hasn't sewed since. (Can't blame her!)

Still have it, used it on the southern half of the Smokies a couple of years back, when it kept me nice and toasty (not to mention making a great pillow).

Frostline kits. Man, flash from the past.

[Cookerhiker]

So last weekend, I tented at HighTop Hut in Shenandoah NP where I was the only weekender among 10 thruhikers, all of whom were young. I'm packing up after breakfast, putting away stuff in a matter-of-fact manner while one of the young guys is staring at me as I place the mug and small pan inside the large pan. "That's really cool - they fit together nice." Me: "I'm 63 years old, I've been backpacking since the 70s (>20 years before these guys were born), and I've updated all my gear over time except these - the same pots I used back then. The smaller one is from an old Boy Scout cookset." I think what impressed them the most was not only did the 2 pots nest, they each had little handles on the lids and large handles on the sides. They still work fine for me so why replace them?
Pre-assembly.jpgNesting.jpgFully packed.jpg

[weary]

So last weekend, I tented at HighTop Hut in Shenandoah NP where I was the only weekender among 10 thruhikers, all of whom were young. I'm packing up after breakfast, putting away stuff in a matter-of-fact manner while one of the young guys is staring at me as I place the mug and small pan inside the large pan. "That's really cool - they fit together nice." Me: "I'm 63 years old, I've been backpacking since the 70s (>20 years before these guys were born), and I've updated all my gear over time except these - the same pots I used back then. The smaller one is from an old Boy Scout cookset." I think what impressed them the most was not only did the 2 pots nest, they each had little handles on the lids and large handles on the sides. They still work fine for me so why replace them?
Pre-assembly.jpgNesting.jpgFully packed.jpg

All that is new is not better. I still carry a lot of old stuff. My zip Stove. Pots. 40-year-old Summer sleeping bag. (It gets lighter as the down slowly escapes. Started at 2#. Down to 1 3/4.)

[ScottP]

I ride a lime green made in the USA bicycle from the 1970s with mostly original Italian components (new bottom bracket, cranks, and front wheel). It's nice

[Koinseb]

I still use my original Trangia stove that I bought 28 years ago :-)

[harryfred]

Are you sure that Jansport only makes kids' backpacks? I have a Jansport day pack (acquired about 4 years ago) and it's more than adequate for day hikes and trips.

Jansport makes it all including internal and external frame packs and luggage. I want a external pack and I have my eye on a couple of theirs. I have two day packs of theirs and I love them. One I use as an "overnighter" My youngest was using it as a book bag his last two years of school.

[EdP]

Yup, I still have the old "A" frame North Face tent with the snow tunnel entrance, but have not used it since the mid `80's. Great floor space for a 2 man, head space - not so much. Still have a Kelty external frame pack too. One of my sons used it on a recent hike we took in Mt Rogers NRA. Still have a Svea 123R Climber stove too. I don't think a better stove was made until the Primus MFS. Still using a NF Chamois down bag I bought 40 years ago from the long defunct Skimeister shop in North Woodstock NH.

[Odd Man Out]

I still have my old Eureka Timberline tent from forever ago. Smells really bad right now and almost unusable. Weighs a ton. But you can still buy them new at the camping stores.

[Don Newcomb]

I misplaced my Holubar "Rocky Mountain Sweater" and regret the loss almost every day. It was a light down jacket with elastic cuffs and collar and metal snap buttons. It would stuff to the size of a softball. I still have my Woolrich hiking knickers and the long wool socks that go with them but the pants "shrunk" ( ) and no longer fit me.

[WingedMonkey]

I would like to discuss gear some of us have used and grown up with, the canvas Boy Scout Yucca packs,

This is my Yucca Pack from Philmont 1970. Still have it in a cedar chest, to keep the Florida mildew off.

100 bonus points to anyone that can guess what that is hanging on the back of the pack. Above the stuff sack. (the stuff sack with the sleeping bag, air mattress and half of the tent)

I brought it all the way home as a gift/presentation to my Explorer Post Adviser.

[WingedMonkey]

This is my Yucca Pack from Philmont 1970. Still have it in a cedar chest, to keep the Florida mildew off.

100 bonus points to anyone that can guess what that is hanging on the back of the pack. Above the stuff sack. (the stuff sack with the sleeping bag, air mattress and half of the tent)

I brought it all the way home as a gift/presentation to my Explorer Post Adviser.

Opps, I forgot the pic

Philmont_Enhanced 80.jpg

[hobby]

has to be the US flag!

do I mone on to the bonus round?

Opps, I forgot the pic

Philmont_Enhanced 80.jpg

[hobby]

<move> i mean

[WingedMonkey]

has to be the US flag!

do I mone on to the bonus round?

Zero points.....we would have never been allowed to carry a flag draped on a pack in 1970.